Friday, June 27, 2008

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has taken the first step in a dedicated conservation program that will help to ensure the survival of rockhopper penguin populations.

In the past six decades, the number of rockhopper penguins has plummeted by up to 80 per cent – but the reason for the decline is a mystery.

RZSS has provided £20,000 for a boat so conservation workers can move easily between nest sites on Tristan da Cunha and surrounding islands. This will allow them to carry out a survey on the existing population, monitor fluctuations and investigate possible reasons for the decline.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Phillip Island Nature Park is using satellite tracking devices to monitor its penguin colony as two major infrastructure projects impinge on the birds' territory.

The dredging of Port Phillip Bay has been conducted in one of the penguins' feeding areas, while the full effects of the proposed desalination plant near Wonthaggi, closer to their island home, are unclear.

This week, seven birds have had the satellite devices — which look like small black bugs — attached to their backs with waterproof tape.Source: The Age

Thursday, June 19, 2008

After four years of living in a temporary exhibit South of Market, twenty African penguins are settling in to spacious new digs at the California Academy of Science's newly built museum in Golden Gate Park.

The San Francisco museum will open to the public Sept. 27, but the penguins held their debut for the media Wednesday happily mugging for cameras and flirting with reporters.

"I really think we went and did everything right for this group of birds," said aquatic biologist Pamela Schaller, who has cared for the penguins for eight years. "I can't believe how comfortable they are already."

Comfortable, indeed. Not only were the birds nesting, frolicking, diving and happily accepting fish from Schaller's bucket Wednesday, they are also getting busy, ahem, copulating.

The birds' new home, which includes a 25,000-gallon tank with a surge system to simulate wave action, can be seen through a 26-by-16-foot acrylic window.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Central Park Zoo has become the No. 1 hot spot for gay birds. Ten years ago, Roy and Silo made history as the zoo's first same-sex penguin couple by cohabitating and refusing female companionship. Their historic coming-out opened the floodgates. (In 2005 Silo walked out of his 6-year relationship with Roy for a girlfriend from California called Scrappy. The new heterosexual couple built a nest and hang out by the pool.)

In Faye Flam's new book, "The Score: How The Quest For Sex Has Shaped The Modern Man" curator John Rowden reveals, "We currently have a number of [penguin] same-sex pairs." And they aren't the only gay birds in the park - Flam writes there are plenty of homosexual geese and ducks also hooking up.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Tim Clark of South Africa pulls his penguin head cover off a club during the first round of the Stanford St. Jude Championship golf tournament in Memphis, Tenn., Thursday, June 5, 2008. Clark finished the day at 2-over par 72.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

At least one hundred penguins and other sea birds, found along Uruguay's beaches, were affected by the oil spill after two merchant ships collided off the coast of Uruguay. The Greek merchant ship Syros suffered a fuel leak after colliding with the Maltese vessel Sea Bird on June 4.

Over 60 dead oil-covered Magellanic penguins washed up on Uruguay's coast Sunday that environmentalists believe is linked to an oil spill, following a collision between two ships near Montevideo's port a few days ago.

Meanwhile, 34 live oil-covered penguins appeared on the beaches of this South American nation's southern coast, Richard Tesore of the SOS-Marine Life Rescue environmental group said.

Scientists fear the penguin death toll is likely to rise in the coming days.

An oil-covered penguin is seen in the backyard of the S.O.S Rescate Fauna Marina (S.O.S Ocean Fauna Rescue), a non-governmental organization devoted to the rescue of ocean fauna, in Piriapolis, about 100 km (62 miles) east of Montevideo.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Monday, June 2, 2008

To promote Samsung's NV24HD camera, three filmmakers were tasked with including a maiden and a penguin in a raft as part of their short film. The films by directors John Hobbs, Manfred Reiff and Eduaro Bono are viewable at celypribeh.cz. The campaign begins its roll-out in the Czech Republic but is slated for Europe and the U.S. as well.